Saturday 15th March 2008

A welcome rest day in our journey to Rome and an opportunity to investigate the city of Arles. The weather was a real contrast to yesterday when I spent the whole day in shorts and a T-shirt. Today was overcast and cool and it was coats and jumpers for the whole day. At this time of the year, the sun makes a huge difference to the temperature and today we didn't see the sun at all.
The campsite exhibits a number of typical small French campsite traits – it has rather a scruffy look about it, the toilets are unisex (although a set of western bar swing doors provide some degree of protection to the men using the urinals) and the women's shower room has a note on it directing the ladies to the men's shower room. Having said that the shower room is heated and there is plenty of hot water. However, this is still early season and I suspect that things will be very different in the Summer. The jury is still out as to whether we brave the campsite showers or use Henrietta's excellent (and private) facilities!
Arles was a Roman centre and there are Roman ruins scattered around the city. We took the bus from the stop just 200m from the campsite and this took us into the centre of the city. With great restraint, we ignored the huge market and instead we visited the Roman baths, theatre, amphitheatre, circus (only scant remains) and the archaeological museum amongst other sights. The theatre was being extensively restored and this has been ongoing since 2002 and, judging by what they plan to do, will continue for a number of years.
The amphitheatre was absolutely intriguing. It was in a very good state of preservation for the same reasons as Diocletian's Palace in Split – it was adapted for use over the centuries rather than being used as a quarry. The amphitheatre was capable of seating 20,000 spectators seated on 34 tiers and held gladiatorial and animal fights and hunting spectacles but, before is was cleared between 1826 and 1830, there were 212 houses and 2 churches within the monument! Considering this, the state of preservation was remarkable. As we walked around, we were able to see the holes in the walls that supported joists used in the houses. Of course, some of the building had been demolished and used in other buildings such as the Mediaeval defensive towers built within the walls. Since 1830, the building has been used for a purpose very similar to that of Roman times – a spectacle of man versus animal, now in the form of a bullring. Unlike the Spanish bullfights, the bull here is not killed but revered by the crowd with the famous bulls pampered in a long retirement after their fighting days are over.
We had an excellent lunch of rabbit at a restaurant run by a young couple. It had only been open for eight months and they were extremely enthusiastic and helpful. The main course rabbit was excellent, served with polenta, french beans (fried in olive oil and garlic) and courgettes baked in a cream and cheese sauce. It was served with a gorgeous tapenade (olive) sauce. I am drooling as I write this!
After visiting the very interesting, but confusingly laid out archaeological museum we went back into the city centre to use the McDonalds free WiFi Internet access. We checked before we ordered our coffee only to be told that they did have WiFi but it wasn't working. However, the café next to McDonalds also had WiFi and they confirmed that theirs was working. We ordered two coffees and then discovered that my laptop would not connect to their wireless network and I had no idea why (and nor had they). However there was compensation – they had rugby on their television and it was the England v Ireland game. I had genuinely forgotten that the match was on but we watched the whole of the second half and enjoyed seeing England put on a convincing performance, winning 33 – 10. We then discovered that the Wales v France match was being covered directly after the English match. Having had two coffees each, we decided to start on the alcohol and kept drinking until the last bus back to the campsite. This sounds somewhat decadent but the last bus left at 19:00, so we were only able to have one drink and missed the second half of the match. The first half was hard fought, low scoring and attritional but Wales definitely had the better of it. It would have been interesting to watch the second half but this would have meant a long walk back and we had already walked miles around the city.
Despite being thwarted in our attempt to use the Internet, we had an excellent day.
Photos: Model of Arles amphitheatre (in Arles Archaeological Museum); Amphitheatre arena; Amphitheatre passage showing marks of the buildings that once occupied the interior; The meaning of this sign is not immediately obvious, so someone has thoughtfully provided a translation especially for British dogs!